Cook played 90 minutes and a starring role in the 2-0 away victory against Spain on Tuesday night that sealed qualification for this summer’s European Under-19s Championships.

The promising youngster also played 90 minutes in the opening 2-1 win against Georgia last week and came on in the 67th minute in the 1-1 with Greece last Saturday.

Prize asset Cook was the most used of Leeds’ players during the international break after he had been given a breather for the 4-1 defeat to Huddersfield that preceded it because, according to Evans, he was “on his knees”.

“With the exception of young Cooky, then no-one has had too much game time,” Evans told the Leeds website on Thursday afternoon.

“We made a request to England for Cooky’s game time to be marginalised but they had to win. I’ve known Aidy 20 years and they had to qualify, so he had to go really strong in the final game against Spain, who are such a good side, and Cook gives you a chance to win, and of course they did.

“Even the fact he has played two games and 25 minutes [of a third game] is no problem to me. He got a nice break of almost two weeks before he went to play for England, so that will have stood him in good stead.